Hi Room
Thinking of buying a new PDA which has good all round pc sync ability plus a really good mobile sat nav system. Any advice from the room?
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Not that I'll be able to answer you Grocer but to help those that can, how much are you looking at spending?
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Adam
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I don't know what it is like as a PDA, but I have a friend who sends me emails occasionally saying how pleased he is with the Medion 100 he has -- not the 175, that is not as good. He thinks it is better than the Tom Tom. It has portrait display, European maps included. Says the post codes do work OK (originally there was some question on here as to whether they would but they seem to have cured that). Advertised price is about £345.
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I have a Dell Axim X50v. It has a large VGA screen which most PDA's do not, but it is still light and easily pocketable.
TomTom 5 makes good use of the huge screen, and has the option to run portrait or landscape.
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Have you looked at this site? Has a wealth of information and reviews?
www.pocketgps.co.uk/
I have a Navman PiN and to me it is excellent - small, light easy to use etc. It has SmartSt Satnav and seems to work extremely well (have used it in France as well as here) I also have Memory Map 1:50000 OS maps of Britain installed - excellent for walking, cycling (can be mounted on handlebars with suitable holder) etc. V useful when it gives you a 10 fig mapref of where you are! (Is that accurate to 1metre or something?)
Having said that, I have never used any other type of satnav so how it compares to others I have no idea - it may be useless compared to others! Nevertheless, I have been extremely impressed by it - especially in towns/cities where the voice guidance enables you to concentrate on driving rather than peering for non-existent signs (esp in France!!)
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Oh and by the way, I got it off ebay with all UK maps and Europe for £300 - seemed reasonable to me at the time
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I've just ordered an X51v along with a TomTom package. Came to about 350 pound altogether. Will let you know how I got on, though I bought it more for gaming than sat nav.
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HP make (imho) the best PDAs - the best Sat Nav would combine sat nav with speed camera warnings and traffic jam avoidance - TomTom 5 does all this, but you'll need either a phone compatible with your PDA (probably bluetooth) or a combined phone/PDA. I ran an XDA2 for a good long while and it's an excellent combined device. Be careful that you can run your GPS and phone link over bluetooth (if that's the option you choose) simultaneously.
Just swapped it for an HP hw6515 which has the benefit of PDA/Phone and GPS in a device smaller than the XDA2 - yes the screen is reduced in size but it does so much in one device, it's amazing. Runs TomTom 5 properly too.
Only thought I'd have is : if you can wait a couple of months - a major revision of the de facto standard PDA operating system is coming along (Windows Mobile 5) and if you want the best, it'll probably be worth the wait.
I know early 2006 brings the HP hw6715 which is my device with WiFi and Windows Mobile 5 - that will really take some beating as it'll do more or less anything you can think of with a pocketable device.
(extended ramble mode off)
So, I'd go for an XDA2 or hw6515 running Tomtom5 and if you can wait, do so and go for the 6715 next year.
-- Lee .. A festivus for the rest of us.
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Listen to the man. He has the coolest mobile ever.
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Adam
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{laughing}
Thanks
-- Lee .. A festivus for the rest of us.
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I have an IPAQ 4700, TomTom 5 and a Holux Bluetooth GPS
The IPAQ is excelent as a work tool as well with all the bits and bobs I need (sd slot, CF slot, wi-fi, lots of storage, fast cpu) And it has a huge screen for a PDA, bigger than the Navman 5120. Same size as the TomTOm.
You need a powered mount, sound from PDA speaker is piddly
With GPS, screen size and brightness matters.
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If you have a PDA with CF slot (as I do with my iPAQ 2210) there is only one antenna to buy; www.pocketgps.co.uk/sysonchipcfplus.php
It really is superb and I agree with the 100% rating it received in the test; extremely sensitive (works inside the house or as a test in the car glovebox with the lid closed), highly accurate, and so convenient (no extra wires, no extra power source needed, and totally portable - I use it hill walking and on my mountain bike and motorbike). Mine (purchased in December 2004) has never experienced the 'lag' of some earlier ones.
Well worth £100.
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Just to add; I purchased the SysOnChip with 256MB storage built in, so have copied the entire TomTom application and GB maps to it. This means I only have TomTom loaded when I want it, and the iPAQ storage itself is uncluttered and with a higher percentage (it is dynamically assigned) available to runtime memory. The result is even better performance.
All the Europe maps I need are on a 1.0 GB SD card that I insert when I need it.
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HP make (imho) the best PDAs >>
Some of the Medion offerings are rebadged HP models - in fact even the HP ones may be rebadged...:-)
Halford is currently offering the Navman PiN 570 Pocket PC and Sat-Nav at £279.99 - it also has many other models from TomTom etc available.
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What\'s for you won\'t pass you by
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Not quite true,
It should read, "Some of the Medion offerings are generic OEM models also used and rebadged by HP"
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generic OEM models>>
We're basically talking about the same thing - rebadging is common in the computer components, peripherals and media field (and many other types of products) as it's cheaper to rebadge a specialist manufacturer's products under your own brand name than produce it yourself.
In actual fact Medion doesn't actually manufacture anything - it's a distributor of products which have been rebadged under its own name.
Many of the digital cameras sold under top Japanese brand names are also rebadged models, mainly from Taiwanese manufacturers, whilst Acer is noted for supplying other manufacturers with its laptops.
Ironically Acer PC systems are wholly produced for it by Elite Computer Systems of motherboard fame...:-)
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What\'s for you won\'t pass you by
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Ps
My understanding of the word generic means that it is the same or is common with i.e. paracetamol is the generic term and, for example, Panadol is the same product but with a fancy name (and slightly more expensive).
It's one of the reasons why firms like Hoover become so upset when the name is used in generic form.
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What\'s for you won\'t pass you by
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I have a windows based mobile phone with CoPilot satnav supplied free on contact with T-Mobile. Comes with a pocket sized sat receiver. Works really well, with the bonus that you can also use it as a mobile telephone. Directions are given on the large phone screen in colour. Where necessary, you can slip the receiver in your top pocket and use it when walking (save you getting lost on Ben Nevis or wherever) The phone is very similar to a Sony Ericsson
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Hi tack,
Is that a T-Mobile SDA phone ?
I was looking at one in the shop today.
free phone
free co-pilot satnav
200 minutes £26/month with 6 months at £11.50
How do you find the phone , both for satnav and other functions ?
I'm interested in html browsing as well as satnav
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This is all a totally different language to me!!!!!
I will continue to use my phone to speak to people and my atlas to find my way about!!! :)
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If you intend to use a screen mount for a PDA with a CF receiver it can be difficult to get the screen angle right without the GPS receiver rattling on the windscreed. Especially with a steeply raked screen.
I have an IPAQ 2210, TomTom cradle and Holux receiver in a Honda Accord and have extended the arm as it is a very neat fit.
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Is that a T-Mobile SDA phone ? I was looking at one in the shop today. free phone free co-pilot satnav 200 minutes £26/month with 6 months at £11.50 How do you find the phone , both for satnav and other functions ? I'm interested in html browsing as well as satnav
I didn't get the SDA back in September, but have just got the SDA II on what I consider a great deal , the web n walk 200 tarrif
200 mins 35/month for 18 months but with 12 months at 16.
This includes a GPRS allowance of 40MB / month.
I can browse the web and send/receive emails which is what I really wanted, and it is this that explains the increase in price compared to what I quoted in september.
Anyhow, must say I'm well chuffed with the copilot satnav.
It is the first satnav I've ever used so cannot compare it with others. I will only use it very occasionally, but it is a really nice toy and cost me no extra compared to other phones on the same package with no satnav.
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